Laser Clearinghouse Engineering SME, S4S

United States Space Force•Vandenberg — 747 Nebraska Ave, Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA 93437, US• Temporary

Posted 6 hours ago• Aerospace Engineering

Compensation

$104,349–$161,313/year

Job Description

Summary

Do not email applications. To submit your resume for this Direct Hire opportunity click here.

For additional information on other USSF direct hire opportunities visit the Air Force Civilian Careers Space Force website and follow USSF on LinkedIn.

Accepting applications

Open & closing dates

03/17/2026 to 03/24/2026

Salary $104,349 to - $161,313 per year

Salary is dependent upon duty location, grade, step and locality pay. Equivalent to GS-12/13.

Pay scale & grade NH 3

Location

Duties

The United States Space Force (USSF) at Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA is searching for a Laser Clearinghouse Engineering SME to support S4S (NH-0801-03, GS-12/13 Equivalent).

Description:
United States Space Forces-Space (S4S) at Vandenberg Space Force Base (VSFB), CA is searching for a well-qualified candidate to fill the Operations Support Specialist position for 3-star Headquarters staff. Come join our amazing team as we Protect, Defend, Deliver, and Connect together! Serves as a Laser Clearinghouse SME, and analyzes, evaluates, and develops recommendations to resolve complicated problems at the operational-level as related to portions of the Laser Clearinghouse mission, in accordance with DoD Instruction 3100.11, which establishes a mandatory, multi-step process for the deconfliction of any laser firings above the horizon to ensure it/they do not inadvertently damage satellites or other space assets. Point of contact for weekly Battle Rhythm events such as the Commander's Update Brief, and Operational and Intelligence briefings.

Ideal Candidate:
A minimum of Bachelor's Engineering Degree in one of the various core engineering fields as related to Laser and Optical Systems (Laser and Optical, Electrical, Physics, Applied Physics, Aerospace, Materials, or Mechanical). Bachelor's degree requirement is not waiverable. Master's degree preferred.

Shall have in-depth knowledge with a minimum of three (3) years of relevant work experience directly applied to developing recommendations in order to resolve complicated problems at the operational level as related to portions of the Laser Clearinghouse mission. Combined Space Operations Center or National Space Defense Center operations may also be used to meet some, but not all, the prerequisite years of experience.

Skills in working with people to maintain effective working relationships with groups interested in or affected by assigned programs and functions.
Knowledge of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel products to develop and present professional technical and management documents at all levels.
Ability to gather, assemble, and analyze facts, draw conclusions, cnduct analysis, devise recommended solutions, and provide a comprehensive current operational readiness assessment to the commander.

Meets or exceeds a "Professional Working Proficiency, Plus" (highly nuanced understanding) language competency when preparing and delivering written and oral presentations

Requirements

Must be a U.S Citizen.
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Top-Secret security clearance.
Safeguards classified or sensitive budget-related information and/or files.
May be required to work overtime on an unscheduled or emergency basis.
Eligible for situational telework only, including Emergency and OPM prescribed “Unscheduled Telework”.
This position will close after 5 business days or 75 applications, whichever comes first.
Employee may be required to perform travel by military or commercial passenger aircraft in the performance of temporary duty assignments.
PCS / relocation funding is not authorized.
Required to handle and safeguard sensitive and/or classified information in accordance with regulations to reduce potential compromise; employee must obtain and maintain the appropriate security clearance.
Incumbents on this position may need to be removed from their military recall status if alternatives for filling the position during an emergency are not available.
This position is designated as a Testing Designated Position (TDP) under the Air Force Civilian Drug Testing Program.
Subject to Temporary Duty Assignment (TDY): 15 days a year.
Desired - not required: Inter-agency Language Round-table scale of 2 "Limited Working Proficiency" (can handle most routine situations) for French, or German, or Italian, or Japanese, or Korean, or Norwegian, or Spanish.

The 0801 series has an individual occupational requirement that must be met and can be viewed here. Please scroll down to the 4th section titled Professional and Scientific Positions.

Evaluation

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): Your qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of your level of knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies as related to the series and grade of the position being filled. Final qualifications determinations will be assessed based on OPM's General Schedule Qualifications Standards found here:

Interviews: You will be contacted by e-mail and/or telephone if your application is identified as qualifying for a position being filled. An interview may be conducted. If interviewed, you will be asked to address the same knowledge, skills, abilities and/or competencies used to initially qualify your application for the position.

Required Documents

Resume:You must submit a resume that may NOT exceed two pages, and the font size should not be smaller than 10 pts. You will not be considered for this vacancy if your resume exceeds two pages or is illegible/unreadable. Do NOT include photographs, inappropriate material, inappropriate content, nor personal information such as age, gender, religion, social security number, etc., on your resume. If the resume you submit contains such information you will not be considered for this vacancy. Your resume must provide:

Personal information - your full name, email and mailing addresses, phone number
Education information - the name of the school and the dates you attended
Work experience - paid and unpaid work with the following information:
- Job title
- Detailed duties and accomplishments
- Employer's name and address
- Supervisor's name and phone number
- Starting and ending dates (If actual dates are not known, provide your best-estimated timeframes.)
- Hours per week
- Salary, if applicable
Other qualifications - skills, certifications/licenses, honors, awards, special accomplishments, and job-related training courses

College Transcripts (if applicable): Please see the Education section of this announcement for detailed information about transcripts.

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.